Getting the balance right - Isle of Man Today

Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate3ISSUEMAY focusWORK-LIFE BALANCEStress managementOne of the symptoms of a lack of work-life balance is stress. It cantake many forms that are unique to each individual, but whateverform it takes the common factor will be a negative effect on yourpersonal and professional life. Nick Yates talks to Pat Heggs fromthe Island’s mental health service about stress management.K C M YMost people believe thatstress in isolation isnegative, but in realitythe right level of stress is actually a healthything. Eustress is the form of stress thathelps you get up in the morning and drivesyou through the day. When that level ofmotivational stress becomes too much, itturns into distress and starts to affectphysical and emotional wellbeing.Mrs Heggs says that work, as one of thebiggest factors in a person’s life, has animportant role to play in making sure thebalance doesn’t tip from healthy eustressinto distress.She say: ‘It is about equilibrium andbalance, but life events can tip that balance.Some individuals, often those who give a lotof themselves, can be overwhelmed by lifeevents, it might be a bereavement or anissue surrounding divorce or separation.Equally problems can occur at work. Peoplewith different personalities in an office canmean two individuals don’t get on. Somepeople like their own personal space, theyneed things around them that feel secure. Ifthat space is then eroded, that can bethreatening to them.’Mrs Heggs coaches and supports civilservice workers through her department,but says the coping strategies can beapplied to any lifestyle.‘We try to get people to put everythinginto perspective, to look at themselves fromoutside as a fly on the wall. We try toremove negative thoughts, that demon onthe shoulder that says negative things aboutyou. It is about controlling your mind andyour thoughts and looking at life through aglass that is half full not half empty. We getpeople to change their conversation — ifthey are using justs and buts it is a negativemindset.’She says that organisations can play a bigrole in reducing stress by helping staff to bepositive about themselves and their work.‘It is about the way the organisationoperates from within. If an individual feelsrespected and valued, that will have animpact. If there is not a level of concern forstaff and they are dehumanised then thatwill have an effect. There is a jointresponsibility. As an individual you haveresponsibility to look after your own healthbut you also need an environment that isfree from bullying or victimisation.’She believes that many people who feeloverwhelmed or frightened at work arefearful of talking about it with the rightpeople.‘If the workload is too much the bestperson to speak to is your manager becausethey can devise a way to help, rather thanjust going off sick. People are frightened ofsaying they have a problem. If you have abroken arm you get it fixed, stress is thesame.’She added that a small community suchas the Isle of Man can, ironically, createworse stress because people experiencingstress feel they have nowhere to hide andsuffer from paranoia that wouldn’t be thecase in a big city.’PAT HEGGS: It is about equilibrium and balance JM: 050427/77

4 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005ISSUEMAY focusWORK-LIFE BALANCETHE BUSINESS UPDATE FORUMCreating a newDo you long for a betterwork-life balance? Thereis a growing movetowards more flexibleworking but what doesthis represent for thoseoperating businessesand aining session their or meeting employees?Penny Kay discusses themain issues with expertsat this month’s BusinessUpdate And our out-of-town Forum. locationPart I: A flexible approach p4 to 9Part II: Time or money? p10 & 11New legislation looks set tomean that employees canrequest to work moreflexibly in future. But how difficult is it toput flexible working into practice and doesit really work? The experts gave their viewson the need for a new management culture.New legislation plannedDTI’s SUE STRANG: On the legislation side,what we are looking at is bringing in a rightfor people to request to work more flexibly.People will be able to ask their employer ifthey want to work particular hours, parttimeand so on, and their employer willhave to look at the request. The employermay refuse it because it is operationallydifficult, for example, but they will have aresponsibility to look at the request.In the UK, this right is restricted to peoplewho have children below the age of sixyears old. But we are very conscious in theIsle of Man that one in five of the workingpopulation is a carer, and we are extendingthis to include them. There has been wideconsultation with industry over the last twoyears on these issues and the legislation willbe part of the Employment Bill 2005.Steam Packet’s STUART GARRETT:Whether you are a big corporate or a smallbusiness the issues are the same, and life aswe know it is changing. Legislation ischanging and for the better, hopefully, forthe total workforce.Challenges for businessGARRETT: We run a 24-hour operation, 365days a year. We aren’t any different to anyother business but we are an Island lifelineand we need to be there at all hours, everyday, and the legislative changes which arebeing proposed present a big challenge forus.We have ships which sail out in themorning and come back at night, and howflexible can you be about that? We didrespond to the government’s consultationwith the benefit of our exposure to the UKFLEXIBLE FRIENDS: What impact would a more flexible approach have for businesses and their employees? MW: 050401/7Brightlife Corporate Calm is about getting the best out of people…out of the office. Our meeting and conference rooms are just made for inspiring ideas,communicating ideals and getting the most out of your people.in the beautiful countryside of Ballalheaney provides a real getaway which works wonders.An extraordinary team-building exercise, trstarts with an extraordinary location – Brightlife.Contact us on 880318 or email brightlife@brightlife.com.

Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate5STRIKES THE RIGHT BALANCEworking cultureand Irish operating environments.If you treat people properly and giveconsideration to their circumstances at theoutset, and use the legislation as a baseline,there are very few cases where we can’tactually help people by flexing in thebroadest sense of the word. I am notsuggesting people come in at 10am andfinish at 7pm, but being considerate tomeeting their requests.There is a ‘payback’ from people who havebeen treated well and when an employerneeds an extra contribution, they comethrough. It is about modern managementpractice and thinking.Partnership approachMerrill Lynch’s DAVID NIXON: We allcollectively have to take ownership of thisissue whether we are anemployer, manager oremployee. Theword that ismissing ispartnership and we have to work together.Industry has to work with government andto communicate.People Dimensions’ LEE HARRISON:Government is influencing a better worklifebalance through legislation but morehas to be done to educate why businessesshould introduce work-life balancepractices, why businesses should care andwhy it is important. It is a good way toattract and retain staff and increaseproductivity. And more needs to be done.Hilton Hotel’s ANNE WEADOCK: We needto sell the benefits of good practice in worklifebalance and show where you can gainfrom this by decreased absenteeism andlower labour turnover. You need to sell thebenefits rather than over-legislate business.Flexi-time frustrationsGreenland Constructions’ GRAHAMTAYLOR: The most frustrating part of ourbusiness is trying to get through torepresentatives of government whoare on so-called flexitime and theyare never there. This happens ona daily basis. People are eitheron holiday or on a trainingcourse or flexitime. It causeshuge stress in the industry.Flexitime means someonewill say they are workinguntil 7pm at night — itsounds impressive, butthey didn’t start until midday.There needs to besome common sense. Inan ideal society it’swonderful, but in practiceit doesn’t work.Aston International’sTONY DOYLE: With thesize of the government,MEET THE PANEL❏ Jan Bujko, training strategy development officer, Department of Trade & Industry❏ Paul Curry, head of recruitment, Barclays Private Clients International❏ Tony Doyle, personnel manager, Aston International, offshore corporate and trustservices provider❏ Stuart Garrett, human resources director, Steam Packet Company❏ Lee Harrison, managing director, People Dimensions❏ Elaine Hunter, human resources manager, Dorchester Maritime❏ David Nixon, managing director, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers❏ Sue Strang, equality adviser, Department of Trade & Industry❏ Graham Taylor, managing director, Greenland Construction, Greenland FacilitySupport Services & Island Timber❏ Anne Weadock, chair of the employment and training committee, Chamber ofCommerce and human resources manager, Hilton Hotel❏ Elaine Wood, development manager (industry), Department of Trade & IndustryTURN TOPAGE 6MW: 050401/12Car shown is an X-TYPE Estate 2 litre Sport from £22,765 OTR.Extended play. Now up to £500 less.Have more room to get active in the X-TYPE Estate, which offers one of the biggestloadspaces in its class. And to make it even more enjoyable, we’ll give you £500towards a 2 litre petrol, 2.5 or 3 litre model - so you can own one from just £20,665on the road.Contact us for a test drive.JAGUAR X-TYPE ESTATEMylchreests GroupMillmount, New Castletown Road,Douglas, Isle of Man IM2 1HE.Telephone 623481. Facsimile 661257.www.mylchreests.douglas.jaguar.co.ukE: mail@mylchreests.com Born to performSUE STRANG: Wide consultation over flexible working hoursFuel economy figures for X-TYPE Estate petrol range mpg (l/100km) Urban18.5(15.2) - 22.0(12.9), extra urban 35.9(7.9) - 39.4(7.2), combined 26.6(10.6) -30.5(9.3), CO2 emissions 254 - 224g/km

6 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005ISSUEMAY focusWORK-LIFE BALANCEFROM PAGE 5there is always someone available. You haveobviously encountered problems but I amsurprised at that.NIXON: You can’t expect the government toregiment their ways of working to 9am to5pm to suit one industry. It has to beflexible. We can all ring somebody and theymay be in a meeting or at lunch ordoing whatever. It happens to all ofus. It is nothing to do withflexitime.STRANG: Flexitime meanspeople can be available atdifferent times to suit a rangeof industries.CommonsenseapproachBarclays’ PAUL CURRY:There has to be commonsense. Before we say toeveryone, you can workflexible hours and dowhatever it takes toget a work-lifebalance, you have tolook at the businessneeds and the impacton the business.I sympathise withwhat Graham is sayingbut I don’t thinkanybody would putthese practices intoplace unless theyknew what theimpact was going tobe. In our business, we are trying to turnthe phrase ‘core’ hours towards moreworking between 7am and 10pm.TAYLOR: You are a large organisation and itcan work. But for a small business on theIsle of Man, you don’t have the staffnumbers to implement this.STRANG: But some of the smallestbusinesses work very flexibly.TAYLOR: One or two-man bands, yes, butthe majority of businesses in the Isle ofMan, who probably employ between threeand 20 employees, with that size ofworkforce they will only have one person incharge of accounts and bookkeeping. Ifthey are off for the afternoon on flexitime, itjust doesn’t work. For larger businesses,there will be several managers to organiseit.CURRY: We would only allow somebody tofall into this flexible arena if it is viable forthe business.Take a moment to ask yourselfthe following questions:▲ Lost sight of your goals?▲ Always feeling tired?▲ Want less stress?▲ Spend too much time at work?▲ Feeling unfulfilled?▲ Priorities causing conflict?YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF, BECAUSEYOU ARE WORTH IT!Please contact Karen Davies, Business Life Coach,for a complimentary session. Or for moreinformation telephone 898433 oremail: kdconsultancy@enterprise.netANNE WEADOCK AND STUART GARRETT: Life and legislation are both changing, hopefully for the better MW: 050401/21Business needsTAYLOR: I am a realist. In an ideal world, Iagree with what you are saying but, inpractice, it doesn’t work in a lot of cases.One of the girls who works for us has twoyoung kids and sometime needs time offwhich is no problem, but if we try tointroduce that for male workers, it isn’tgoing to work.Dorchester Maritime’s ELAINE HUNTER:But how many people are going to want totake advantage of flexible hours? This iswhat you have to look at. It has to suitbusiness needs.STRANG: If it doesn’t suit the businessneeds, don’t do it. You need a differentflexibility in your particular workforce.TAYLOR: But where is flexibility going tostop? If everyone is doing their own thing tosuit themselves, there is no discipline. It hasa knock-on effect to other businesses.NIXON: If there is something negativelyimpacting on your business, you takeaction and address it and fix it.The costs of flexibilityCURRY: I am not sure that there is any costoutlay in terms of flexible working andhaving a work-life balance as a culturalshift. Underlying to all of this are all thenegatives, which drive employees awayfrom the business.We are all in a competitive environmentbecause we are operating in an Island witha full employment market. By the verynature of being in business, we are allcherry-picking each other’s better skilledemployees to go into various industries andthe opportunity here is to make yourselfmore cutting edge by having some work-lifebalance and flexible working opportunities.You should save money. If you are investingin your people, you should get betterperformance and results.NIXON: You should get out what you put in.If you are investing in people, you shouldMW: 050401/47PAUL CURRY: You have to look at the impact on business

Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate7what do youthink?What are your views? Is a good work-lifebalance really achievable? E-mail your viewsto john.sherrocks@newsiom.co.imJAN BUJKO: Wehave all worked inplaces wherepeople are judgedon the length oftime their car is inthe car park asopposed to whatthey are achievingduring the dayMW: 050401/29www.osagroup.com611161OSARecruitmentMaking a successful transition tomanager – essential coaching from OSAget a better performance.TAYLOR: But we are talking about differentindustries altogether. You guys are allworking in a professional-type industry,finance, at a higher level, with higher-paidjobs.WEADOCK: You can’t get a lower-paidindustry than hospitality. I represent quite alarge workforce but we are paying a lot lessthan you are and we are open 24-hours aday. We need to look at stress levels and thehours people are working.Long hours cultureDTI’s JAN BUJKO: The long-hours culture isan issue. How many line managers in theirown behaviour promote that directly orindirectly? That permeates the wholeculture of the organisation. We have allworked in places where people are judgedon the length of time their car is in the carpark as opposed to what they are achievingduring the day. I would like to see moreattention paid to company cultures,attitudes of managers and companiestowards the long-hours culture.DOYLE: It is also down to the individual. Ihave worked from 8am to 7pm, and thatwas normal, five days a week and I used tobring work home. I worked for years on thatbasis. When you are younger and youhaven’t got family, it happens. But I laterdecided to stop doing it when I was gettinghome from work and the kids were in bedand saying ‘I haven’t seen you all week dad’.NIXON: It is work hard and play hard as anattitude. It is all about balance.GARRETT: There are times in your careerwhen it suits and to get careeradvancement or to get experience, there aretimes when people would be able tocontribute more.HARRISON: There are many organisationswhich don’t have formal policies in placewhich say ‘we don’t engender long hours’.There isn’t a set policy which iscommunicated, and it becomes the normto work in that way.Staff recognitionHUNTER: It is down to the culture and whatyou portray as individual managers andthat is how everybody else will perceive thatculture in the workplace and will respondaccordingly.We are dealing with ships that are on theother side of the world. Their working day isour middle of the night. If we have to dealwith an incident at 3am, we have to comein to the office. It is giving something backto those people and not constantlyexpecting them to do it as part of theroutine.We have to appreciate people may have tocome in at a weekend or late evening. It ishow the management looks at this and sayswe appreciate what you are doing and notjust take it as routine.Management skillsGARRETT: We need to ensure that linemanagers have the skills to interpret therequest for flexible working taking accountof individual circumstances and thebusinesses’ requirements.There are lots of line managers in manyorganisations who would reel against thethought of giving something to a memberof staff which they didn’t get when theywere in their position. I didn’t get it, so whyshould you get it? That is the big challenge.It is no different to someone working on abuilding site, ‘I didn’t get that when I was anapprentice, so why should they get itnowadays?’BUJKO: There is a tendency to see work-lifebalance as a trendy piece of humanresources jargon, but all it is really is givingemployees the right to have a life out ofwork.There is a lot more to the work-lifebalance than just flexible working. It is notjust for people with families, it is an issueTURN TO PAGE 8How we handle the transition from being responsible for ourselves to having a collectiveresponsibility for a team or more strategic/technical business responsibility can makeall the difference to our personal effectiveness.The higher you rise within an organisation and the greater your sphere of influence, themore important it is that you have clarity and control of your activities, goals andeffectiveness both inside and outside the workplace – and know how to take control ifthe balance is lost.Recognising the signs of imbalance is essential – some people have ‘blow ups’, somebecome forgetful or lose concentration. Managers may excel at their jobs but find theirhome life falls apart.Everyone in management has been through the transition from individual contributor tobecoming a technical or people manager. Among their other services, OSA can offerindependent coaching.Lorna MacLaine, OSA’s organisational and management development consultant, hasspecialised in this area for the past five years, with eight years previously in widertraining and development roles, and a total of 18 years in business.Lorna says: ‘Much management training concentrates on the ‘technical’ managementskills but often we simply need to have someone hold a mirror up for us to see where wehave become out of kilter and what changes we need to make to bring ourselves backinto balance. Increasingly, organisations understand that such rebalancing is simplyanother area of management development designed to enable them to optimise theproductivity of their most important resource – their people.’OSA succeeds in this arena by introducing independence to the process, with no internalorganisational baggage but with a high level of experience, knowledge and skills to findthe answer without being influenced in the way somebody with a personal stake in thecompany might be.Lorna says: ‘This independence enables the coach to be extremely honest, un-emotiveand open. It also means the coach is able to offer guidance and support through a varietyof issues, enabling us to push out of the comfort zone and find the answers.’Lorna works in partnership with the client, allowing them to set the pace, with monthlyor six weekly meetings from one to four hours at a time, working on an ongoing actionplan. The client can then focus on putting their development plans into action back inthe workplace and gain balance in their working and personal lives – regaining controlover themselves, their work and their life.For more information on the coaching, training and development options available atOSA, contact Lorna/Karina on 611161 or email lornamaclaine@osagroup.com

IS A FLEXIBLE APPROACH POSSIBLE?: Dave Nixon (left) and Tony Doyle MW: 050401/43 DEBATE PICTURES BY MIKE WADE8 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005ISSUEMAY focusWORK-LIFE BALANCEStriking theright balanceFROM PAGE 7for working couples, for example, to have awork-life balance too. It is down to eachindividual to improve their own work-lifebalance and the companies they work forshould be conducive to that.National Work-LifeBalance dayCURRY: We have introduced a twice-yearlywork-life balance day to make people reallythink about the way they work.We ask people to think about whetherthey could take their lunch mid-afternoonbecause Tesco is quieter then, can theycycle into work, can they take a half-day offand make up the time elsewhere? This is toexplore the work-life balance of thatperson.We all want to move in the same directionbut we haven’t all got the cultures tosupport this. Perhaps the government couldlead a work-life balance initiative on anIsland-wide basis. A national work-lifebalance day promoted by governmentwould be great. We also run a ‘wellbeing’project where now we provide newspapersand fresh fruit every day for staff.HARRISON: How is it received in terms ofwhat comes back in commitment from staffand productivity, and how it is measured?CURRY: It is a difficult one to measure. Butwe know when people are applying for jobs,for example, that they are aware of the typeof facilities available. There seems to be a‘feel-good’ factor when you go into ourstaffrooms, which is good.TAYLOR: It is great if you have got theresources but for smaller businesses on theIsland, it is harder.HARRISON: Barclays clearly have theresources to formalise what they are doing,smaller businesses don’t, but that shouldn’tLEE HARRISON: Smallbusinesses shouldoperate an informalapproach to the work-lifebalance MW: 050401/23stop small businesses operating aninformal approach to the work-life balance.CURRY: It comes down to issues, withoutany form cost, which is all aboutencouraging people, their attitude to work,and the understanding of their personalcircumstances.New infrastructureCURRY: I have some concerns aboutgovernment because we don’t necessarilyhave the infrastructure to support moreflexible working. For example, if someone isworking from 7am to 10pm, there are many

ELAINE HUNTER: Flexible hours also have to suit business needs MW: 050401/52Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate9people who don’t drive and public transportis not there. I would like to see governmentlooking to address this.There is no point saying let’s work flexibly,shifts or travel to work by cyclesetc, if there is not theinfrastructure to support it.That is my big concern. Iwould like to see a flexibleapproach to publictransport, for example, sopeople can get to workearly if they need to.WEADOCK: It is anissue for us toobecause we have70 peopleleaving thebuilding at 4amin the morningwhen the casinocloses.GARRETT:Likewise, we aretransporting peoplefrom Port Erin at 5amto the ferries.CURRY: If there isdemand from otherbusinesses collectively,not just the financesector, it could includeconstruction, hospitality,who have early starts andwould really benefit fromearly buses, for example.There are hurdles toovercome.BUJKO: I agree with Paul. Ifyou want to put some of thesepractical things in place, then youdo need the infrastructure. But thereis a wider definition of work-life balanceand it goes back to culture and attitudes.‘There needs to besome common sense.In an ideal societyflexitime is wonderful,but in practice, itdoesn’t work— Graham TaylorGetting peopleback to workCURRY: There is a whole pool of people outthere which I want to tap into who aredifficult to bring back into the workplace.They are skilled people with a lot ofexperience. They can’t come back becauseperhaps there are not enough work-lifebalance opportunities within theworkplace. What we are doing byintroducing these policies and proceduresand culture is opening the door back tothose people and saying you don’t have towork as many hours as you used to.STRANG: Looking at the demographics ofthe Island, women of child-bearing age arehaving kids later. These people are higherup the chain when they first have kids. Youwant to keep that skill and youwant them to come back.When you look at theolder population onthe Island, they havegot skills and youwant to get themback into theworkforce butthey might notwant to workall hours.DTI’s ELAINEWOOD:There aremorewomen intheworkplace,people arecomingback to workand there ismore antidiscriminationlegislation. Butpeople need toknow they arevalued. If peoplefeel that they arevalued, there is amassive amount ofcommitment.Sometimesa teamperformsbetter withoutside helpManaged HRPeople Dimensions provide effective HRmanagement solutions.Outsourcing this specialist area means yourcompany can benefit from continuous bestpractice in all your HR functions.Call Lee Harrison or Tom Nicol on 679981, oremail enquiries@people-dimensions.comto find out how to manage your team moreeffectively.Top Floor, Select House1 Upper Church StreetDouglas, Isle of Man IM1 1EEwww.people-dimensions.com

10 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005ISSUEMAY focusWORK-LIFE BALANCEAn individualDo we really want a better work-life balance orwould we prefer more money? The experts at thismonth’s Business Update Forum spent part oftheir debate discussing which option is best.Arecent survey byLloyds TSB andWorking Familiesrevealed that 67 per cent ofworkers in the UK have promisedto strike a better balance betweenwork and home life in 2005. Thiswas compared to only one in five(22 per cent) who will be gunningfor a pay rise this year. But doesthis accurately reflect the attitudesof the Island’s workforce?Steam Packet’s STUARTGARRETT: If an individual wantsto earn more then they will findtheir own work-life balance and ithas to be down to the individualto determine what they want thatto be. Work-life balance is an issuewhich an employee must haveresponsibility for determiningwhether or not they are happy intheir own role.There has been a balancing ofcomparative remunerationpackages recently and thereappears to be a fairly standardnumber of hours which people areprepared to work. If people dowant to work longer then theyshould be allowed to do so.Hilton Hotel’s ANNE WEADOCK:We have just completed anemployee survey and a lot of thejunior level staff are working 45 tomaybe 60 hours per week. TheyAn establishedreputation for integrityand innovationwere asked whether they had anyconcerns about the working hoursand I expected a high percentageto tick the ‘yes’ box. Not that theyare forced to work those hours,they volunteer, but they didn’tcomplain. Certainly, in thehospitality sector, they seem towant more money.People’scommitmentsPeople Dimensions’ LEEHARRISON: It depends onpeople’s commitments and whatis happening in their lives. Themore important aspect is thatemployers need to establish andunderstand the needs of theworkforce and that is the key.Aston International’s TONYDOYLE: It is down to where peopleare in their life cycle. If people arestarting out at work and want tobuy a house, they may want towork as many hours as they can.But as you get older, you mightwant to slow down a bit, themortgage is being paid off, youdon’t have HP debts and you canafford not to work as much.It changes throughout your life.When you leave school you havemore time than when you have afamily and other commitments.In an office environment, whenyou get to a certain level you arepaid a salary. You don’t necessarilyget overtime pay. In terms of whatpeople would actually want, it isdifferent towhat reallyhappens. It may be different inother industries, like construction,where you can work moreconstantly and be paid.Greenland Construction’sGRAHAM TAYLOR: Inconstruction, people can work asmany hours as they want becausethe work is there to be done.There is a slowing down in theindustry, in general, and all thebig capital projects are finished.But in the smaller works sector –new house extensions, paving,repairs etc – there is still quite alot of work about. A lot of ourworkforce will do these jobs atnights and weekends.New aspirationsMerrill Lynch’s DAVID NIXON: Itcomes down to people’s needsand aspirations. But morecontentiously, I don’t think it ismutually exclusive. I would likeCOMPANY & COMMERCIAL • DISPUTE RESOLUTION • PRIVATE CLIENT • PROPERTYwww.dc.co.im33 Athol StreetDouglasIsle of Man IM11LBT 01624 647647F 01624 620992E mail@dc.co.imAlso at: Church Road, Port Erin. Tel: 01624 835225 Fax: 01624 835543.Water Street, Ramsey. Tel: 01624 812107 Fax: 01624 814275.DAVID NIXON: It comes down to people’s needs and aspirations MW: 050401/44

K C M YIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate11approachto aspire to achieving both.People can work moreeffectively, earn more moneyand get a better work lifebalance. It is not black andwhite as an either or. My driveand motivation is to achieveboth for myself, and thecompany.Barclays’ PAUL CURRY: I don’tthink I would ever get to a pointwhere I wouldn’t take the extramoney. But the opportunity forpeople to have a work lifebalance is critical.There is scope for both but, byfacilitating people with moremoney, they will probably havemore work-life balance anywaybecause they have moreopportunity to do things.Interestingly, some people usetheir work-life balance time tosecond job.WEADOCK: Yes. Some people inthe banking industry work acouple of nights in the casinodoing cashier work. It is theirfree time but they want theextra money.Extra pressuresDTI’s SUE STRANG: I thinkpeople want both. But if we aregoing to have more of a worklifebalance it does mean thingslike leisure facilities and retailoutlets will be open on Sunday,and want about the work-lifebalance of people workingthere? They may want to andthere is an opportunity to earnmore money. But the idea of a24-hour society meanssomeone is working to supportthat.DTI’s JAN BUJKO: It is down toindividual choice but there is nopoint people earning lots ofmoney if they are too burnt outand haven’t got the time oropportunity or can’t bebothered to spend the moneythey are earning.Dorchester Maritime’s ELAINEHUNTER: A lot of people expecttoo much of themselves andthink they need to do this manyhours for this sort of lifestyleand put far too much pressureon themselves.Sometimes,people have to admit they arenot going to become managingdirector and don’t want to beand let’s get the balance forthemselves and realise theirlimitations. Shipping doesn’tpay huge wages and people doseem to like a work-life balance.I think people are happier tohave a less stressful job andwork with people they enjoybeing with.DTI’s ELAINE WOOD: We areseeing a bit of a sea change onhow we view employment.Some people are going to wantto earn more money but otherswant to spend more of theirtime with their kids and workflexibly.What do you think? We askedworkers in Douglas whetherthey would like more money ora better work life balance. Seetheir responses on page 12.More time ormore money?

12 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005OPINIONTerence McDonald, 47,Douglas, AdvocateWork-life balance to memeans trying to dosomething else other thanwork. I haven’t got a goodwork-life balance, I had aheart operation 18 monthsago and I have tried to slowdown but it’s hard. I wouldlike to spend more time inthe garden and takingmore holidays, but if I wonthe lottery I would give itaway to charity because if Ididn’t have work I wouldn’thave a life. Being anadvocate is my ideal job,it’s the best job I have everhad. Helping people ismore important to me thanmoney, as I work in a legalaid practice. My father toldme I should aim for copperwith plenty of silver but nogold.‘Work-life balance’ is a commonly used phrase in managementspeak,but it is not always clear what employees think it means,or whether they believe they have achieved that balance intheir lives. Business Update went out on to the streets ofDouglas to find out what motivates people to work and to ask ifthey would keep working if money was no longer an objectJulie Mitchell, 36,Andreas, Health WorkerNoble’sI have two jobs, three if youcount the kids. I work fulltimeduring the week andat night as a healthcareassistant at Noble’s and Iwork weekends as well in ashop in the village where Ilive. I wouldn’t workweekends if I could help itbut I need the money. Freetime is more important butneeds must.Reiki RelaxationCome along and enjoy an amazing experienceAnn Townend former nurse and Reiki Masterhas a first class reputation and is proud toinvite you to her Relax Studio....So why not just Relaxcan speed up healing and reduce pain for the following symptoms✓✓✓✓✓✓DepressionPoor circulationPanic attacksCancerMSME✓✓✓✓✓Respiratory problemsLow self esteemLack of energyDigestive problemsNervous tensionTo arrange a consultation please contact Relax on 625345Castle Mona Colonnade, DouglasTimothy Moolman, 33,Douglas, PhotographerI work for Keigs, it’s prettyclose to my ideal job. Iwork nine to five but alsodo after-hours work withcommercial events andweekend stuff. I am prettymuch happy with it, exceptI would like less timeworking in the evenings asit cuts into your social lifequite a bit. Free time ismore important, it is goodto have enough money toget by and work less. If Iwon the lottery I wouldgive most of it away tofriends and family andkeep on working,maybe start myown business.Jon Ferguson, 20,Douglas, Lloyds TSBIt’s a job I do enjoy as thereis a really goodatmosphere, it pays morethan my first job as anassistant manager and Ineed money as my billscome to £700 a month andI earn about £1000. If I wonthe lottery I would keepworking for the social side.Shift work is good, we workdifferent times between8am and 10pm, you get adifferent type ofatmosphere at differenttimes of the day. It doesaffect my sport (Vagabondsrugby) but the coachesunderstand. If they paidme I would train every day,but until then it’s not goingto happen.Making headwayFor those of you who gaveup reading thenewspaper for Lent orhave been using thepaper just to prevent wetfootprints around thehouse, you may have missed out onsome interesting things going on inApril.The brand project has continuedmaking headway with theinvolvement of politicians, seniorgovernment officers and captainsof Isle of Man industry. The initialideas for the brand have beeninformally presented to each ofthese groups during several highprofilemeetings to garner opinionswhich will be used to refine thebrand ideas further.If you haven’t been involved yet,not to worry, you will have plenty ofopportunities over the comingmonths. For those of you who areinternet-literate just type"www.gov.im/cso/brand" into yourbrowser to find out more. For thoseof you who shy away from theinternet, there is no need to feelthat you will be left out. I will berunning several drop-in sessions toexplain the brand project objectivesand some of the ideas we aretesting.What is a concept? What is asubstantiator? What is aproposition? What is a strapline?What is a logo? What is a brand?These are all questions I havebeen asked by people eager to findout more about the brand project. Ican let you into a secret — fewmarketing professionals can agreeon answers to these questions! Thisis not because they don’t knowtheir beans; it is simply a reflectionLisa Nixey, 31, Douglas,Travel Agents MannLinkMy ideal job was my last inDorset as the manager of atravel agents, because Iused to get a lot ofeducational visits, whereyou go out to a holidaydestination and inspect thehotels. If I won the lottery Iwould still have to work orI would get too bored. Iwould get a job doingunpaid charity work out inAustralia. I think I have agood balance as I get awayevery three months andonly work weekends oneSaturday a month which isfine by me. It is very laidbackover here comparedwith England and it’s areally good way of life withlower stress levels.of the complicated nature ofdefining what makes a brand. Inthe case of the Isle of Man, thebrand will be unique and original.Rest assured, we will be strippingall jargon away so that at the end ofthis project you can tailor the ideasto meet your needs as a resident,Isle of Man worker or businessleader. In other words it will havesubstance and relevance.As I explained in last month’sBusiness Update, this project isprimarily concerned withunderstanding the gap betweenreality and perception. Everyone(both residents and potentialinvestors) looks at the Isle of Mandifferently so we need to knowwhere we fall short and where weexceed expectation. From initialresearch it is apparent that peopleoff-Island are not aware of all theIsle of Man has to offer.Who is involved in the project?There are three groups of peopleinvolved in the project, all of whomhave been chosen because of theirexpertise and commitment.The first group is led by the ChiefMinister and is a committee withProgressreport byIan GullandBrandManagerJean Platt, 68, Douglas,Retired BusinesswomanI worked very hard for along time and found itdifficult to get free time,but you really need to earnthe money to have enoughto do things in your freetime. It is not good havinga lot of free time if youcan’t finance it. I ownedwomenswear andmenswear shops andworking for myself was myideal job, it kept theworkload down rather thanhaving somebody piling iton you. It’s easier to workhard when you are doing itfor your own benefit. If Iwon the lottery, I wouldkeep working in the shortterm because it’s wrong todo things too quickly, but Ihave always thought workwas a means to an end,rather than something Ienjoyed.strong government and privatesector membership. Within thisgroup of talented individuals is afour-member management groupwho provide me with day-to-dayadvice as I drive the projectforward.The second group is Acanchi Ltd.They are the creative team who willgenerate the ideas based upon theirtime interviewing people, on andoff the Island.The third group is HPI ResearchGroup. They provide the impartialmarket research expertise neededto hone the brand ideas.What is going on now?Acanchi have come up with eightideas that need testing, so we arehanding over to HPI to conductsome initial research in the Isle ofMan and in the UK. The objective isto shortlist approximately threeideas for further refinement andtesting.If you have any questions orcomments, or want to be involved,please drop me a line atian.gulland@gov.im, or phone meat 687066. Visit the brand website atwww.gov.im/cso/branding

K C M YIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate13SOCIALLYBusiness&pleasureTHIS MONTH:REACHING THEIR GOALBreakfast clubs,conferences andfundraising effortsCONFERENCEAshburton conference at Mount Murray (left-right)Ian Ling, Anatole Kaletsky, Peter Lucas JM050414/1Staff at Allied Irish Offshore recently completed their fundraising efforts in response to the tsunami disaster in South East Asia.Following the disaster on Boxing Day staff organised cash collections, dress-down days and an e-bay-style auction to raise a total of£11,380. Funds will be donated to a specific AIB Group project which will be managed and co-ordinated by GOAL which is a high-profileIrish-based charity founded in 1977. (Left-right) Padraig Greene, Paul Collister, Nita MacDonald, Patrick Amankwa, Emma Corlett, ChrisHowland, Tessa James, John Cooper, Paul Cashin, Chris WynnBREAKFAST CLUBDINNER TIMEThe Island Games Breakfasts, hosted by the Hilton Hotel to raisemoney for the Isle of Man sports team heading to Shetland in July,once again proved very popular. Enjoying a good start to the dayare (left-right) Nicky Vincent (Zurich), Kirk McCarthy (Barclays),Micky Swindale (KPMG) and Mike Gardner (KPMG) MP: 050323/1Guests at the Fund Managers Association dinner at the MountMurray Hotel (left-right) Chief Minister Donald Gelling, RichardBellwood, Rosemary Penn JM: 050318-198

14 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate15TOPICMAYspecialreportDIVORCEGoing to court is notthe only way to settlea divorce. Mediationcould be a moreamicable, and costeffective,answer asJohn Sherrocksdiscovers.With your pension sorted,relax about the futureTrust-based pension schemes for:• Companies• Individuals• DirectorsAfiercely contested divorce cancost tens of thousands ofpounds with the legal feesmounting as a result of the case having to goto court. The solution is to avoid ending upbefore a deemster — obvious but not alwaysfeasible when bitterness and anger cloudsrationale.Often, even when a couple are looking topart as amicably as possible they are not ableto agree on the financial arrangements. Thisis the cue for the lawyers to get involved.Aha, cry the cynics — the first step to endingup in court. An assumption which JonathanKewley of Dickinson, Cruickshank and Co.and Kevin O’Riordan of Simcocks reject. Bothprofess to be as keen as clear-thinking clientsare to avoid having the courts ruling on adivorce.Being in court tends to polarise attitudesand force couples to accentuate theirdifferences. It can also result in lawyersconcentrating on where the differences lie inpreparing for a case. Having a deemster orjudge ruling on a divorce is also costly for thestate, which is why governments are anxiousto encourage couples to adopt a nonadversarialapproach.The whole environment has changed inrecent years. Three decades ago, a divorcehad to be contentious. Back then, marriedcouples who wanted to get divorced had toresort to desperate methods; one of thespouses would arrange to be found in a hotelbed with a professional co-respondent by achambermaid bringing in breakfast. Thechambermaid signed the affidavit and hotelsin Brighton did roaring trade.Divorces can now be granted purely on thegrounds of separation; two years in caseswhere both partners want to formally endthe marriage and five years where one isopposed.Adultery or unreasonable behaviour is stillcited in divorce cases — sometimes withfingers crossed in situations where bothpartners want a speedy divorce.‘Court is always the last resort,’ saysDickinson Cruickshank’s Mr Kewley.‘If it [the divorce] is amicable and theparties have agreed between themselveswhat happens to the children, the propertyetc, then a lawyer is only needed to draw upa separation agreement … that is relativelyinexpensive because they [the couple] havedone all the work themselves,’ he explains.If the couple cannot agree on how thefinances are to be split then their respectivelawyers will try to do so on their behalf.Hopefully agreement is reached speedily.The courts cannot rule on theredistribution of finances until after thedivorce. Prior to that the courts have somelimited powers to ensure that the wife hassufficient maintenance, the children areBreaking up is hard to doprovided for etc. A non-adversarialalternative to the divorce courts that mostlawyers recommend is mediation. Althoughboth parties normally have their own legalrepresentation, mediation is generallycheaper than going to court.‘The other advantage of mediation is thatthe people have chosen their own solution …they have ownership of it,’ says Mr Kewley.There is no obligation to take themediator’s advice and if this route fails thecouple can still turn to the courts, safe in theknowledge that what was said duringmediation will not be quoted against them.Kevin O’Riordan of Simcocks is one of justa couple of trained matrimonial mediators“If the divorceis amicableand the partieshave agreedbetweenthemselveswhat happensto thechildren, theproperty etc,then a lawyeris only neededto draw up aseparationagreement“Jonathan Kewleybased in the Isle of Man.He says the UK government started activelyencouraging mediation in divorce around 20years ago for two primary reasons: to cut itslegal aid bill and offer a ‘more appropriate’alternative to the courts.‘There was no real facility for helpingpeople to get to grips with their anger and allthe emotional fallout [that can go withdivorce].’Mr O’Riordan says: ‘When I’m advisingpeople I try to give them strategies forcommunicating with one another. Theclassic thing is find neutral territory and apositive atmosphere. Don’t try to discusssomething over the phone when one of youis distracted or worse still when you arehanding over the children on the doorstep.‘When people are divorcing they oftendon’t normally want to have anything to dowith each other. Whoever is shouting theloudest is probably feeling the guiltiest.There is a tremendous loss of face, a blow tothe ego in any divorce … both [people] wentinto marriage intent on making it work but ithas come unglued and [they] … think thereare a few things I could have playeddifferently over the years.‘Despite that, most people after shouting ateach other for a bit are able to calm downand sort things out. I have people come inand say we've virtually reached agreement —can you dot the i’s and cross the t’s.’That said, Mr O’Riordan concedes that inthe Isle of Man relatively little divorcemediation takes place. However, he believesthat younger advocates coming through theranks will be more inclined to employmediation.A new non-adversarial alternative to thedivorce courts that is starting to emerge inthe UK is ‘collaborative law’. Imported fromthe US, collaborative law involves twolawyers setting out to reach agreement bynegotiation. Should they fail, the two partiesthen have to appoint different lawyers torepresent them in court.Although collaborative law is being toutedas a better alternative, Mr O’Riordanquestions whether it is not just a more costlyversion of traditional mediation.‘I can’t buy into the idea that a lawyer whonegotiates can’t also be a lawyer who fights… so the concept of somehow not being ableto do both jobs in a matrimonial situation tome is completely alien.‘I’ve always thought that if you’ve got twogood lawyers you should be able to settle justabout any case because you are going toknow it better, you’re going to know theclients better [than the deemster], you’regoing to be able to have a feel for where thegive is.’Mr O’Riordan suspects collaborative lawcan be more expensive than mediation if itfails and no cheaper if successful.“When I’m advising people I tryto give them strategies forcommunicating with oneanother. The classic thing is findneutral territory and a positiveatmosphereKevin O’Riordan“

16 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005ISSUEMAY focusWORK-LIFE BALANCETackling stress inFeatureseditorJohn Quirkturns hisattention tostress in theworkplaceOVER a beer one night, I wasexplaining to a friend that Iwas writing an article aboutstress in the workplace.He responded with a shake of the headand a comment which suggested hethought the issue was an excuse which lazyworkers use when faced with a bit morework than usual and the thought of havingto pull their finger out.Society may have undergone some radicalchanges in recent decades, but therealisation that work-related stress is a veryreal phenomenon seems to be taking a littlelonger to hit home.While many firms are tackling the issue,this cynical viewpoint towards stressremains rooted in many otherorganisations.But they ignore stress among theirworkers at their peril. Firms can now besued under health and safety regulationsfor their failure to respond to theirresponsibilities — and the Island hasalready seen its first cases.Dr Helen Nightingale is a consultantoccupational and clinical psychologist who,along with Dr Laurence Burns, a leadingconsultant clinical psychologist fromRochdale Health Service, recently staged afree seminar for the public and privatesectors.They discussed the latest researchfindings and treatment and intervention forstress, at both the individual andorganisational level. Follow-up workshopsare now being held on a monthly basis.Dr Nightingale explains: ‘These are for theheads of government and the public sector,together with the banking and financialcentres, whose staff have recently had aspate of serious stress-related conditions.‘The uptake has been incredible, butmostly from the private sector. A possiblereason for this may be that the public sectoris less concerned by work absenteeism orconcerned by the threat of litigation.’However, this doesn’t reflect DrNightingale’s experience that it is publicsector workers who suffer more stressrelatedconditions.‘The incidence of stressors in the publicsector is greater here,’ she says. ‘This maybe due to the sense of helplessness to takecontrol of one’s working life, or theopportunities to change jobs or set upprivately are limited.‘Civil servants, health employees, teachersand support workers are often afraid to seekhelp for stress-related conditions becausethey fear the consequences to their careerand the fact that the treatment may beoffered in the service or by people theyactually work with. The Island is a verysmall community and confidentiality canDR HELEN NIGHTINGALE: Certain workers are often afraid to seek help for stress-related conditionsbe a difficult issue for some people workingwithin the public services.‘We are discussing with employers howthe best independent and confidentialservices can be offered to such people.‘The police force has just recentlyundergone a successful stress audit and weshall be suggesting that others follow suit.’To find out more about stress — and todiscover if I myself was stressed — I visit DrNightingale at Snaefell Surgery in AnaghCoar.But as I know that I’m a fairly laid-backperson, a bit of contrast was needed. So acontact of mine, who wishes to remainanonymous — we’ll call him ‘Steve’ —agrees to come along. Steve knows he hasbeen stressed out for some time. But I don’tthink even he was prepared for what DrNightingale had to say to him.The first thing Dr Nightingale tells me isthat stress is relative and affects all workers— cleaners and gardeners suffer as muchstress as politicians and heads of corporateorganisations.‘One of the most important factors aboutstress is worry,’ she explains. ‘If you are aworrier, you are more likely to be stressed.Thinking style is an important aspect inhow someone interprets the factors.‘Some people are more resilient becausethey have better coping systems. There areno rights or wrongs with that — sometimesit is not about how many stresses you havehad. You may have someone who has a verystressful life but who copes, who then losesa partner and cracks up completely. Youcannot make predictions about who isgoing to cope and who is not.’To start with, Dr Nightingale gives each ofus a quick test — the ‘hospital assessmentfor anxiety and depression scale’ — which isover in a matter of minutes, but from whichshe can instantly give an indication ofwhether someone is suffering from eitheranxiety or depression.It’s a series of questions about your dailywork and life routine.After you’ve ticked the relevant boxes, DrNightingale quickly scans through and totsup your score.After less than five minutes in the room,she tells me I don’t appear to be sufferingany symptoms of depression. But I scorenine on the anxiety questions — which is‘slightly elevated’ and she tells me that,while it’s nothing to worry about, I shouldkeep an eye on it.Typical symptoms of anxiety arerestlessness and fast speech, both of whichI suffer from time to time. Another which Isuffer from is disrupted sleep — either notbeing able to fall asleep or waking up early

Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate17the workplaceK C M Yin the morning — and this can also be asign of depression.But Steve’s test results are worrying. Hescores 12 on depression and 16 on anxiety.With the normal range for both being 0-8,Dr Nightingale is worried. She said 12indicates a moderate level of depression,while 16 is in the ‘severe’ range of anxiety.‘You must start doing somethingimmediately,’ Dr Nightingale tells Steve.‘You need to decide what you can delegateand you need to take a tough line.‘If you had angina or a heart attack, youwould say “My God, I have to change myattitude to life”. These scores also say thereis something that needs to be sorted out.‘Consider it as a mental heart attack. Youhave to say enough is enough. You cannotwait for people to start caring about you —you have to be assertive and say no.’Prior to the consultation, both Steve and Ihave filled in extensive questionnaires,which are sent away and the resultsanalysed. While the quick test gives DrNightingale a glimpse through the windowof your life, the questionnaire opens thefront door.A week or so later, we return to hersurgery.The results are back and I’m told I’vescored ‘average’ in every single area, withthe exception of assertiveness, where I’vescored high, and on characteristics thatsuggest I’m a type A kind of person,someone who sets himself high, and oftenunrealistic, targets and who is often neversatisfied.Dr Nightingale says having high scores inassertiveness and type A characteristics isn’tnecessarily a bad thing — but warns that ifthey are not watched, they can lead toproblems.It’s good to know that I’m average. But Ihave felt for several months that, while I’mcoping with various things going on in mylife, should one project or facet of my life gowrong, I’d struggle.But Dr Nightingale says this is common.While a person can cope with severalstressors without feeling depressed oranxious, one extra stressor can tip themover the edge.‘Stress does have a cumulative effect,’ sheexplains. ‘It will not necessarily be a big lifeevent that will break you. One day it can besomething very small. You can walk in oneday and find little things that have not beendone and you can lose the plot.’Steve also shows type A characteristicsand Dr Nightingale says type As do tend tosuffer from stress.Steve tells Dr Nightingale that hisrelationship with his wife has suffered fromnot spending time together as he oftenbrings work home. At work, he feels like heis holding the fort, that there is no oneabove him and that he feels as if he cannotlet go.She tells him: ‘You are into a range thatwarrants something being done clinically.Anxiety and depression are a part ofburning out.‘They are the two main symptoms.Anxiety is the common cold of the mind.Depression is the flu. And the two togetheris pneumonia. You have to have a work/lifebalance.’Dr Nightingale adds: ‘There are somethings you can do. Start to pull back nowand put things in place. You have to giveyour mind some recovery time. Yourconcentration starts to go, you forgetthings, you lose your confidence, you feelyou are not effective in work.‘People who experience stress-relatedconditions tend to be very conscientious,they tend to feel no one else can do the job,they feel they cannot delegate. And ofcourse none of that is reasonable.‘You need to have 15 minutes a day whereyou sit and chill out — but if you cannotswitch off, you are in trouble.’She explains time management is often amajor factor in stress and tells Steve heneeds to get regular exercise.‘You need to set aside a certain amount oftime for a task,’ she says. ‘If you finish it, fairenough. If not, put it on the back burner.Everyone is allowed to have things on theback burner.’Read ‘Steve’s’ reaction to Dr Nightingale’s findings on p27It’s a hectic pace of life welive. The deadlines are set forus and they are unbending.There is no built-in release valveas the pressure mounts. With theclock ticking away and the target notyet reached nerves tense up so gradually -unnoticeably at first - until suddenly we arecaught up in a relentless whirlwind of inwardlybuilding pressure. And then we feel the sameold aching shoulders, tight muscles, or maybejust that little bit of uncharacteristic irritabilitythat says ‘I need to get out’.Now can it really be true that from a smalltown in Norway, famous for steep mountainsand deep fjords of sparkling blue water, riven bycascading waterfalls, comes the almost instantanswer to the coiled-spring syndrome?Yes, really. Because the Stressless chair is anexceptional combination of perfectly balancedlumbar and neck support along with a smoothglide system that allows youto recline instantly into theexact position your body needsallowing you to relax your bodyand free your mind.Flexibility and movement unequalledin the world.Bring a little bit of inspiration from the fjordsto your world.And there’s never been a better time to buyfrom the stunning new stressless range fromMillichaps. With the best ever special prices instore now and a massive clearance saving on oldstock, you can afford to relax even more!Let’s Make it happen atTHE FURNITURE STORE85 PARLIAMENT STREET RAMSEY PHONE 813636

18 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005ISSUEMAY focusWORK-LIFE BALANCEDon’t bury yourhead in thesandAlmost everyone gets stressed atsome stage during their workinglives but how widespread is theproblem and how should it betackled? Penny Kay looks at howstress can be better managed.StressdiscriminationSickness absence due to stress iscosting UK business around £5billion a year, according to theHealth and Safety Executive. And aroundhalf a million people in the UK experiencework-related stress at a level they believe ismaking them ill. There are no comparablestatistics available in the Island but it is agrowing area of concern for the Island’semployers, which urgently needs to beaddressed.Lee Harrison, managing director ofconsultancy People Dimensions, explains:‘The HSE has identified six key areas or“risk factors” that can be causes of workrelatedstress. Employer’s need to gain adetailed understanding of what these riskfactors look like in their organisations,identify which areas may be presentingproblems and work with employees andtheir representatives to take action toreduce these problems.’He adds: ‘It is important to have ways tomonitor and manage workload.Organisations need to recognise thatdifferent people are able to cope withdifferent levels of stress and they must putprocedures in place to identify that.’It is a view shared by Anne Weadock,human resources manager at the HiltonHotel complex in Douglas. She says:‘Although it may not specifically be statedin legislation, we, as employers, owe ouremployees a duty of care. There is a duty ofcare to watch stress and the work-lifebalance.’‘It is not rocket science,’ adds DavidNixon, managing director of Merrill LynchInvestment Managers. ‘You need to knowyour team and recognise that people aregoing to get stressed from time to time.’However, he believes that many people whosuffer from stress are in denial of the fact,which makes it more difficult to manage.‘There is a often a problemwith people admitting to theirown stress and it comes into abigger topic which is the stigmaattached to anything which isrelated to mental ill health,’ believesJan Bujko, training strategydevelopment officer at the DTI.‘There is such a stigma attached to itand so much discrimination andignorance that people themselves, evenif they may acknowledge they are havingstress symptoms, are oftenreluctant to own up to itbecause they may feelthat they have failedor are inadequate.’The situation ismade worse becausethere is a perception thatanyone can go to their GP and say they arehaving a hard time at work and can getsigned off for stress, according to ElaineHunter, human resources manager atshipping company, Dorchester Maritime. ‘Itcan be very hard for employers todetermine who is genuinely stressed orpeople who just want some time off.’For those who are genuinely sufferingfrom stress, there is plenty of help available.Stuart Garrett, human resources director atSteam Packet Company, explains that hisbusiness uses specialist occupationalmedical services, which are available in theIsland and he also works in collaborationwith organisations such as the Drug AdviceService and Helpline (DASH), which offersfree advice.The heavy drinking culture in the Island isone of the outcomes of a lack of work-lifebalance and stress, believes Ms Weadock.‘Stress can lead to alcoholism and drugtaking. It is a knock-on effect. Give people awork-life balance and they might not go outand drink heavily on a Saturday and Sundaynight.’TAKE ACTION: Stress is a problem that cannot be ignoredLoss of productivityAbsenteeism from work can bedetrimental to both individuals andbusinesses. Dorchester Maritime’s MsHunter explains: ‘An employer needs toidentify those people who are perhapstrying too hard and are just going to stressthemselves out to the detriment of thebusiness as well. If that person is at a seniorlevel and they are off work for six monthswith stress, that is going to have a bigimpact on the business.’Ms Weadock adds: ‘You can cost theimpact to business on the productivity lostas opposed to the levels of absenteeismbecause people are not owning up to beingstressed. They are coming into work buttheir productivity is lower. The cost ofaccidents at work is around £5bn per yearin the UK because people are too tired andworking too many hours.’There is a perilous cultural change, whichis turning people into 24 hour, seven days aweek workers, believes Mr Nixon. ‘Peoplehave mobile phones and laptops andwhichever way you turn now you arecontactable. It is creating this downwardpressure on everyone and additional stress.Everyone thinks they need to stay until10pm at night because that is what the bossdoes.‘The culture change has to come from thetop to say enough is enough. We needquality work. There is a big difference instaying in the office for 70 hours a week andbeing effective. Sometimes you do need towork until 10pm, where necessary, but itshouldn’t be turned into the norm.’TURN TO PAGE 27

Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate19ISSUE80,212 workerscan’t be wrongMindful leadership is theway forward, saysSean Gadman of theInternational Business SchoolThe Sunday Times listof the 100 bestcompanies to workfor suggests that it makes goodbusiness sense to be mindful ofthe way people are managed.According to the 80,212 workerswho took part in the study, theaggressive command and controlapproach popular on TVprogrammes such as ‘TheApprentice’ may make forentertaining viewing but are oflittle use in a world where theboundary between intellectualand structural wealth is fastblurring.As The Sunday Times surveyshows, businesses which learnthrough sharing knowledge aremore adaptable and successfulthan those where people onlylearn as individuals. It also provesthe importance of payingattention to the quality ofconversations and relationships inshaping interesting newdefinitions of products andservices. For example, atCalifornia-based Google Inc.emphasis on innovation andcommitment to cost containmentmeans each employee is a handsoncontributor. There’s little in theway of corporate hierarchy andeveryone wears several hats.This shift in perspective is morein tune with relationships than itis with things and today’ssuccessful business leaders areleveraging the power of theinternet and networkingtechnology to create livingcommunities which are infinitelyimprovisational, consider learningand adaptation a natural part oftheir ongoing evolution andinfuse their organisations with thespirit of insight and innovation.Thankfully mindfulness can belearnt by those who are preparedto undergo a long and deepprocess of inner change. Inleadership developmentprogrammes like those run at theInternational Business School,managers learn how to accesstheir innate creativity whileovercoming the illusions ofseparation and permanence soingrained in traditional commandand control business models.The result is a new breed ofmanagers who are both willingand able to shape theirorganisations in ways that gobeyond rigid structures based ondevaluing and mistrust. Back atGoogle, meetings that would takehours elsewhere are frequentlylittle more than a conversation inline for lunch and few wallsseparate those who write the codefrom those who write thecheques. This highlycommunicative environmentfosters a level of sharedcommitment and productivityfuelled by the realisation thatmillions of customers rely onGoogle results. It is cultures likethis that reflect a deep convictionthat the very core of humanrelationship is a desire toconnect, an intention towardwholeness and a willingness toemerge.So what are the benefits ofmaking your business the bestpossible place in the world towork? At the brokerage firm ofThomas Carroll, they believethat sustainable growth resultsfrom developing teams ofconfident people who are happyin their work. Google’s hiringpolicy is aggressively nondiscriminatoryand favoursability over experience whichensures a constant stream ofhighly talented, highlymotivated and highlyproductive people who buy intothe founder’s belief that workshould be challenging and thechallenge should be fun. Thereis an emphasis on teamachievements and pride inindividual accomplishmentsthat contribute to thecompany's overall success.But this success does nothappen accidentally, it is theresult of an intentionalstrategy on the part of itsleadership to involve people inthe relentless search forbusiness perfection. Indeed, ifwe look at the qualities whichdefine today’s successfulbusiness, mindful leadershipcould be considered theultimate competitiveadvantage.■ IBS Consulting (a divisionof the Isle of ManInternational BusinessSchool) is running its MindfulLeadership Programme forthe second consecutive yearstarting on June 14th 2005.The programme is aimed atsenior managers andexecutives who are looking toengage their creativepotential and develop theircapacity to lead and developmore effectively.Anybody interested in enrollingshould register by calling KirstyHamilton on 01624 693709.SEAN GADMAN: Managing change in a complex world JM: 050422/3

20 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005SPOTLIGHTGetting it rightFairbairn Private Bankcame 85th in this year’sSunday Times list of thebest 100 SMEs to workfor in the UK, largely dueto rating in the top 12 forwork-life balance with 76per cent of staff happy.This is an impressiveachievement and a firstfor an Isle of Manbusiness, so BusinessUpdate spoke to GregHorton, managingdirector of Fairbairn, tofind out just what it is heis doing right.What policies and benefits do youhave at Fairbairn that haveencouraged your staff to be sopositive about their employer?We have a non-contributory pensionscheme, flexible working hours, healthcarefor the staff and their families, parkingspaces for staff and free tea and coffee. Wealso have a dress down day once a weekand a social committee that organises twobig events every year (summer ball andChristmas party) and quarterly eventsaround that. All are heavily subsidised bythe company.Overtime is optional and we do allow staffto take unpaid leave as long as they give usplenty of notice. We have had staff go off toAustralia for five months and then comeback, but it has to be life-changing stuff,not just to party in Majorca!It’s in the little things, if a member of staffsays they want to go to the dentist, a lot ofemployers would say ‘tough luck, go in yourown time’, but we try to adopt a flexibleattitude.What do you believe is moreimportant to your staff — time ormoney?We have done a survey and money isimportant but never top priority. Thepriority seems to be more recognition forAWARD WINNER: Greg Horton (right) of Fairbairn Private Bank collects the Sunday Times awardwhat they are doing, flexibility also featuresvery highly. We have a high proportion ofwomen working here and they havedifferent life demands than the men, withchildren and families. Money usually comesin the top three but is rarely priority one ortwo.Why do you think you did so well inthe Sunday Times list?I got an overwhelming response from thestaff of both Islands (Isle of Man and Jersey)when I asked if they would like to enter,they said they would love to do it. Theactual placing is based 80 per cent on whatthe staff say about the business and 20 percent given to what the business says. Themotivation comes from the pride that Iknow they feel in the business.Do you feel you do much more thanother businesses in the Island interms of work-life balance?I think the most noticeable thing we get iswhen we interview potential new staff.I ask why they have applied here andpeople say we have heard so much aboutyou and I know somebody else who worksfor you. It’s an environment they want toget into and by definition that means theyare probably not in that environment at thetime. We rarely lose any staff tocompetitors.■ A DUTY OF CARE: What employersshould be doing to protect the health,safety and welfare of their employees — p27Best Offshore Bank3 Years RunningFor the third year in succession, we have won the highly coveted award for ‘‘Best Offshore Bank’’at the International Investment Offshore Fund and Product Awards.The independent panel of judges found that Fairbairn Private Bank ‘‘continues to be afront-runner across the board in private banking’’.If you would like to find out more about our award winning rangeof wealth management products and services, please call0800 289936 or+44 (0)1624 645000 quoting ref. IOMBUor visit www.fairbairnpb.comFairbairn Private Bank is a registered trade name of Fairbairn Private Bank (IOM) Limited. Fairbairn Private Bank (IOM) Limited islicensed by the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission to conduct Banking and Investment Business and its principal placeof business is in the Isle of Man.Fairbairn Private Bank - for a distinctly different approach

Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate21ISSUEThe financialservices industry inthe Island is one ofthe most advancedwhen it comes torecognising thework-life balanceneeds of itsemployees.Barclays Bank Plchas introducedseveral innovativeideas to help staff fitthe demands oftheir job around therest of theircommitments,ranging from freenewspapers towork-life balancedays.LONE WORKER: A Barclays employee has the office to himself during the evening shift MW: 050419/101One of the bank’s majorpolicies for staff is flexibleor core working hours,introduced to provide an alternative to astraight 9-5 working day. Employees withother commitments in their lives, such aschildren, are able to work at different timesdepending on their circumstances. SharonKinley, 35, an international personalbanker, says she was able to work from 8amto 1.30pm when her son was very youngand now works only during the school termtimes and starts work at 9.30am in order tofit in a school run.‘I used to work alternate hours of 8am-1.30pm and then 10am-5pm to fit in withmy partner’s shift work and school times. Itmeant I could spend more time with mysons and not pay so much in child mindingfees. I now work full time 9.30am-5pm, butonly during term times,’ she says.Tracey Woods, 31, a risk and rigourmanager, says she works until 1.30pm everyday so she can pick her baby up from thechild minder.‘I do 20 hours a week and start at 9.30amso I can take my boys to school, I work until1.30pm because I pick my baby up from thechild minder. If I needed to finish at 1pm atanytime, I can add the extra half-hour on toanother day. There is somebody else in ourdepartment who only works on Fridayevenings and Saturday mornings.’Paul Curry, head of recruitment atBarclays, says that the bank tries toapproach each member of staff on anindividual basis with regard to flexiblehours.He says: ‘We acknowledge that lifestyleand work-life balance doesn’t alwaysrevolve around 9-5. We find that there is anunderstanding within the bank, that peoplehave got different needs and suit differenthours, so the managers balance the teamsto cover.‘We want to treat everybody as anindividual, rather than trying to pigeon holepeople into working certain hours. We willwork to everybody’s individual needs andtry and accommodate where we can.’As well as its core hours policy, Barclayshas implemented several other schemesbased on feedback from its employees.A wellbeing program has beenimplemented that provides free newspapersevery day and fresh fruit on a Wednesday.The company also contributes half the costof a massage service that visits the office ona weekly basis. Barclays has implemented atwice yearly work-life balance day wheneverybody in the bank is asked to thinkabout what they can do to improve theirlives.Mr Curry says: ‘We ask people to putforward ideas, we also encourage cycling orwalking to work as a form of exercise andwe allow staff to take their lunch hours inDoing itdifferentlylieu, so they can go shopping or pay billsoutside the normal 12-2 lunch hours. Oneof the things to come out of the work-lifedays was a kitchen refurbishment. They arenow state-of-the-art with leather seatingAdditionaldate due to demand!Mindful Leadership ProgrammeAre youready to betransformed?areas, tables and chairs.’He added: ‘The improvements have comeas a result of staff wanting them, they arechanges that enhance work-life balance. Itis about working better and smarter in thehours that you are here, rather thanchaining people to a desk for 10 hours. Weacknowledge that we have some verytalented individuals working for us and wesee it as our responsibility to help them.’Mindful Leadership Programme – Hurry places are limited,book yours now!Following last year’s huge success, the Mindful Leadership Programme is back for2005. This dynamic and life-changing management programme is designed formanagers and executives and is uniquely delivered by IBS Consulting (a division ofthe Isle of Man International Business School). Programme start date 14th June.Want to find out more? Why not attend our extra FREE BREAKFAST SEMINARdesigned to give a flavour of the programme:12th May: Managing Change in a Volatile World26th May: Coaching for Peak PerformanceDue to popular demand Coaching for Peak Performance will be running again onThursday 2nd of JuneSeminar start 7.30am – 8.45am and is delivered by the Programme Director,Dr. Sean Gadman. A light continental breakfast will be provided.For full programme information or to book your place at this breakfast seminar,please contact, Kirsty Hamilton on 693709 or email k.hamilton@ibs.ac.im"I have taken away so much fromthis course. It is so different toanything I have done previously.""The past nine months haveopened a door for me."www.consultibs.comFully Booked!The Isle of Man International Business School, The Nunnery, Old Castletown Road, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM2 1QB

22 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005YOUR PORTFOLIOPETER SHARKEYPeter.Sharkey@btinternet.comSMART INVESTMENTSThe perfect portfolioPerhaps the most annoyingtelevision commercialcurrently invading our livingrooms on a much-too-frequent basis showsa dome-headed individual purporting to bea ‘designer’ in search of perfection. He sitsinside a car with his knowing assistant,whose face displays a mix of incredulity anduncertainty, while extolling the virtues ofthe motor in a slightly laboured, oh darling,all-designers-speak-like-this manner.Perfection in a car? Come on!Nevertheless, the commercial was useful inone respect as it made me considerwhether an investor may go aboutconstructing the perfect portfolio; indeed,can such a design really exist?I suppose before taking this idea further,we should try to define portfolio perfectionwhich, just like perfection in a car, canmean completely different things todifferent folk.According to one independent adviser,Bestinvest, the perfect portfolio can beconstructed from scratch provided you’re acertain kind of investor seeking specificaims. The company has categorisedinvestors into four broad types; three ofthese groups are content to focus oninvestment growth while the other looks togenerate income. Significantly, the firmbelieves that when constructing the perfectgrowth portfolio, be it cautious, balanced oradventurous in nature, investors shouldconcentrate primarily upon equities.Naturally, several factors can determinean investor’s attitude towards investment,especially equities, but as Justin Modray ofBestinvest said: ‘Last year’s interest raterises have made cash appear moreattractive, but if you are investing for fiveyears or more, equities are likely to producebetter growth.’Such an assumption is ably supported bythe statistical evidence: over the pastcentury, equities have produced an averageannual return of 5.1 per cent while cash hasgenerated a real return of just 1 per cent. Inother words, cash may look very attractiveat the moment, but the investor in search ofthe El Dorado that is the perfect portfoliocan afford to avoid sectors boasting strongshort-term performance.It goes without saying that investors needto spread their savings and investmentsamong a variety of asset classes in order tominimise risk. The cautious investor, forexample, should have just over a quarter ofhis savings in UK equities and about thesame invested in fixed interest accounts;only 7 per cent of savings should be held incash. This leaves plenty of scope to invest inincome-producing property as well asoverseas equity markets, particularlyEuropean ones.Understandably, the allocation of assetschanges according to an investor’s attitudetowards risk. This means that theadventurous type hunting for portfoliogrowth will have nearly one third of hissavings invested in the UK equity marketand a further fifth in European shares; overa quarter will be in either Japanese,American or ‘emerging market’ equities.Such dashing investors will generally onlyhave 10 per cent of their portfolio in fixedinterest accounts.Those falling between the cautious andthe adventurous growth investor, ie. themajority, will show less inclination to dipinto too many different asset categories.Nevertheless, for such investors, Bestinvestsuggests that UK equities should providethe cornerstone of the perfect portfolio; onethird of the balanced investor’s savingsshould be in the stock market and almost20 per cent in European markets; a further14 per cent is likely to be in fixed interestaccounts with just 3 per cent held in cash.Of course, Bestinvest has used thebroadest of brushes in its investorcategorisations which means investorsshould remember that, just like a car,investment perfection is a notoriouslydifficult thing to achieve.PROPERTY SPECULATIONMost investors delight infinding an ‘edge’ —being the first into apotentially lucrative sector, therebymaximising their returns. Property inparticular is one investment sector whichregularly dangles the tantalising prospect ofeasy profits, although it is difficult to keep asecret for long.Once the powerful forces of supply anddemand get to work, it can sometimes feelas though everyone and his brother hasmanaged to take advantage of a specificopening, while the cautious are left on thesidelines. This is not necessarily a bad thingas the more circumspect investor can learnfrom mistakes made by ‘early movers’;indeed, on some occasions, it can be averitable blessing to observe from afar.In the past few weeks, at least fourcompanies have been wound up by theHigh Court after offering investorsdesperate to join the buy-to-let bandwagona chance to buy cheap properties in theNorth of England, each seemingly offeringseductive double-digit yields.The sales pitch employed by thesecompanies has been remarkably similar:they offered to build a property portfolio bylocating houses in letting ‘hot spots’ andToo goodto be true?then arranging for them to be refurbished.The supply side of this equation, ie. theavailability of property, was rarely aproblem; the difficulties arose when thecompanies tried to match demand fromtenants with their sparkling real estate.Three of these Manchester-basedcompanies were controlled by anundischarged bankrupt. Investigators foundthat in the space of just 10 months, he hadtaken more than £700,000 fromunsuspecting investors who had,unbelievably, paid more than double themarket value for some of the propertieswhile little, if any, refurbishment had beencompleted.It would be easy to argue that greed haddriven investors to be duped by thesescams, although stupidity is another wordwhich comes to mind. Investors shouldalways take claims about property returnswith a pinch of salt and make every effort togarner information about the company andthe people with whom they are dealing. Ifthings don’t look right, no one is compelledto invest. Walk away!To date, the worst recent property scaminvolved a company called PracticalProperty Portfolio, wound up by a court inLeeds last month after taking a staggering£100 million from investors and sellingthem boarded-up terraced houses and thepromise of 15 per cent returns. Investorswere required to part with £18,000 to use asa deposit and for ‘refurbishment’, afterwhich they were encouraged to remortgage,releasing equity with which the nextproperty could be bought.When I first saw a ‘PPP’ advertisementabout four years ago, I obtained furtherdetails which, on paper, looked impressive,but there was no way I was prepared toshell out £18,000 on something I hadn’tseen. The properties being touted by PPPwere based around Newcastle, so despitethe distance, I decided to go and have alook at what was on offer.After being collected from the station,one of the company’s hard-sell directorstook me to look at the type of propertiesPPP were buying. To say they were in theless salubrious part of town is anunderstatement; furthermore, I was notshown one property that was actuallytenanted. The following day, I visited thecompany’s solicitors in the centre ofNewcastle where a lady seemed quite keenfor me to sign a contract and hand over acheque. This approach to business gave offall the wrong signals and I declined.‘Missed opportunity?’ I wondered on thejourney home. Even at the time I didn’tthink so, but obviously many people wereprepared to invest without taking the mostrudimentary precautions. Finding aninvestment edge is fine, but as the oldadage says, when things look too good tobe true, they usually are — and nowhere isthis truer than in the UK property marketright now.

Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005HOWI GETMYNEWSBusinessupdateYour monthly ‘in the pink’newspaper, keeping you informedof local business issuesBusinessupdateBrainTeaserWIN!!!23First prizeReturn flights for 2 to Paris direct from theIsle of Man courtesy of EuromanxSecond prizeDinner, Bed and Breakfast for 2 at theMount Murray Hotel with use of the HealthClub facilitiesGrahamFerguson LaceyRadioFor me the Todayprogramme on BBC isessential for stayingcurrent with theissues of the day,given the pithy, nononsenseinterviewing styleadopted by theprogramme. Inrespect of television,Newsnight adds theother bookend ofdaily key issues.PrintI consider the mostessential publicationis the FinancialTimes. I can surviveon this paper alonewithout the need forany other broadsheetor tabloid ifnecessary. However, aweek would not becomplete without TheEconomist, which Ifeel gives a verybalanced, centristview of key issues allover the world. Itpresents the worldlike a village inprinted form andhelps to stimulateyour own attitude toissues that affect youand your family, yourcountry and yourworld.BooksI find reading apassage from theBible daily irresistible.I never cease to beamazed at howrelevant it is, howoften a passage that Ihave read on manyoccasions can stillreveal truths that Ihave not noticedbefore. To balance myreading, anything ofChurchill’s, whether itis his wit or seriouswritten works, ismuch sought after.AdvertsThe series of Volvocar ads with childrenand the recentVauxhall advert withtwo boys appealgreatly. Humour isessential in an advertto get my knowingattention.Entrepreneurand hotelownerE-mediaI am not IT proficient— I am TI (technicallyincorrect) andtherefore this is not asource I use.MagazinesInstead of thetraditional range ofpublications, I onlyread catalogues fromChristie’s andSotheby’s of travelmemorabilia,historicalmemorabilia, olddocuments, booksetc.New MediaAs a ‘phonaholic’fortunate enough tohave friends in morethan 40 countriesaround the world, Ifind this an essentialpart of my dailymaintenance offriendships, a sourceof information, whichis knowledge, whichequates wealth.Just how clever are you?Last chance to prove how clever you are in the final round of ourBusinessupdate Brain Teaser. If you can answer thesequestions correctly you are in with a chance of winning one ofthese fabulous prizes!Complete the entry form below and send with your 3 sets ofanswers with the 3 numbered tokens to Businessupdate BrainTeaser, Isle of Man Newspapers, Peel Road, Douglas IM1 5PZ.Questions...How many Manx Glens are there?..............................................................................................Is the Island part of the customs territory of the EuropeanUnion?..............................................................................................What is the name of the breed of sheep indigenous to the Isleof Man?..............................................................................................What does OEDC stand for?..............................................................................................Name two members of the Legislative Council............................................................................................................................................................................................Token No. 3If you have missed rounds 1 and 2, questions and tokens can becollected from Isle of Man Newspapers reception.Name ......................................................................................Address ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Tel. ..........................................................................................Competition rules.All entries must be received at Isle of Man Newspapers by close of business on 10thMay 2005. The answers will be published in Business Update on 8th June. Lost,delayed, damaged, incomplete or illegible entries will not be accepted. No responsibilityis accepted for entries which are lost, delayed or damaged in the post. Proof of postingis not proof of delivery. The prizes are as stated. The editor’s decision is final and nocorrespondence will be entered into. The winners must co-operate for publicity purposes.The promoter is Isle of Man Newspapers, Peel Road, Douglas, Isle of Man.✂

24 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005MOTORINGStrike goldwith thisbargain buyPhil Vaughan finds great value in the Chevrolet Lacetti station wagonTypical, isn’t it: Daewoo spentmillions on advertising in the1990s getting us all to say thevery name properly, and then ditches thatidentity this year in favour of a fine oldAmerican handle, Chevrolet, one that tripsoff the tongue as richly as Rolls-Royce does.But the global motoring machine that isGeneral Motors knows that the legacy ofLouis Chevrolet, who first began selling carsin the US in November 1911, will servethem better in the long run, and allow forthe renowned US muscle motors to impacton showroom loyalty, too.At the very least, expect Chevrolet sales tosnowball in the next couple of years —Daewoos were always good for the money,and Chevrolet can only build on that,especially when the all-important Matiz cityrunabout arrives in the UK this June.A fine example of the continuing drive tooffer excellent value is the Lacetti Wagon, orestate — an absolute bargain at £10,995.There’s just the one model, the 1.6 litrepetrol SX, with an automatic option, butyou get quite a lot of load carrier for theoutlay.Despite smatterings of sportiness on theChevrolet Lacetti Wagon, such as theradiator grille, and the smooth, deeplyskirted lines, the 1598cc engine’s note isrightly that of workhorse rather thanracehorse.The combined-cycle fuel figure is given as36.2mpg, but the actual average is nearerthe 33mpg mark, and the Wagon can do the0-62mph sprint in 11.4 seconds. Top speedis 116mph, and it’s comforting to know thatthis Chevrolet’s driving dynamics are allbumpertobumperChevrolet Lacetti 1.6SXStation Wagon £10,995. Onlyone version, saloons andhatchbacks available.Bodyshell/drivetrain: 4.58m by1.72m, 5-dr estate; 1598cc,107bhp four-cylinder engine,driving front wheels through5-speed manual gearbox.Company car tax liability: 181gper km C02 emissions (21% ofcost of car when new, taxed).there, from good roadholding to reassuringsteering and suspension responses.There are no aches or twinges over longtrips, so the seating provides good support,and the Lacetti Wagon can run through ahost of cargo permutations. The 1,410 litreseats-down capacity is reasonable, andthere are alloy roof rails to handle biggeritems.Performance/economy: topspeed 116mph, 0-62mph in11.4 seconds.Official fuel figures: city27.4mpg, country 44.8mpg,combined 36.2mpg.Fuel tank: 60 litres.Insurance group: 7.Warranty: three years/60,000miles, three years' freeservicing.Website: www.chevrolet.co.ukSome of the kit that comes with theLacetti Wagon you won’t even see on sub-£30,000 prestige marques — such as thecooler box in the glove compartment, theheated door mirrors, and the cargo bay’sluggage net — so that overusedspecification word, generous, onlyunderstates the Chevrolet’s comprehensivefittings.While most cars today get power steering,an engine immobiliser and central locking,only luxury versions will standardise itemssuch as tinted glass, alloy wheels, airconditioning, four powered windows withone-touch for driver, powered door mirrors,steering wheel audio controls, all-roundanti-lock disc braking, and leather wheeland gear knob.But, wait, there’s more.The after-sales package is second only toHyundai’s five-year cover deal: Chevroletprovides three years’ free servicing on top ofthe standard three-year/60,000 mileswarranty, plus full AA back-up for the sameperiod.With that virtually cutting 36 months’running costs down to just road tax andinsurance (grouped at a low 7A), you’d beextremely hard pushed to do better for themoney.Indeed, the colour of the Chevrolet ‘cross’badge on the Lacetti tells you exactly whatyou’ve struck when buying this estate car:gold.

Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate25K C M YBOOKSReviewbyHannahStephensonIn other words...Times have changed but DrJohnson’s creation remains anessential part of everyday lifeIt’s a book we all take for granted,only occasionally taking it out tolook up a spelling or meaning of aword. Yet the dictionary remains asimportant to life today as it has ever been,has been programmed into our computerledenvironment and will no doubtcontinue as one of our most valuablelearning tools.Here are just a few of the oddities,definitions and weird words featured inJohnson’s original dictionary:WHAT WORDS MEANT IN 1755barbecue a hog dressed whole, in the WestIndian mannerdevotee one erroneously orsuperstitiously religious; a bigotfireman a man of violent passionshigh-flier one that carries his opinions toextravaganceorgasm sudden vehemencepedant a schoolmasterlavatory something in which partsdiseased are washedurinator a diver; one who searches underwaterpompous splendid; magnificent; grandjogger one who moves heavily and dullyrecipe a medical prescription.OMISSIONSblond, bank-note, virus, irritable (whichhe uses in four of his definitions), athlete(although athletic is included).POETIC DEFINITIONScough a convulsion of the lungs, vellicatedby some sharp serosity (as Hitchings says,if you didn’t know what a cough was, youMuch of the credit for its emergence goesto Dr Samuel Johnson, who produced theoriginal Dictionary Of The EnglishLanguage 250 years ago.To mark the anniversary, author HenryHitchings has written Dr Johnson’sDictionary: The Extraordinary Story Of TheBook That Defined The World.‘When British speakers of English refertoday to “the dictionary”, they imply theOxford English Dictionary. But for 150 yearsit meant Johnson’s Dictionary,’ saysHitchings.The first edition was a cumbersome2,300-page volume weighing about 22lbs,the weight of a large turkey. In Johnson’slifetime five further editions werepublished and a sixth came outwhen he died.When it first came out in1755 it cost £4 10 shillings,which would be worth around£300 today.The son of a bookseller,Johnson took eight years tocomplete his gruellingtask. France and Italyalready had dictionariesof their own and it hadbecome a matter ofnational pride thatEngland should rivalthem.‘A lot of people around thebeginning of the 18thcentury were worried aboutlots of French words, suchas “finesse”, creeping intothe English language,which is the exactreverse of now, whereFrench peopleconstantly fretabout “leweekend”and “leHENRY HITCHINGS: Dictionary became a matter of English pridemight be none the wiser)embryo the offspring yet unfinished in thewombrant high sounding language unsupportedby dignity of thoughtnightmare a morbid oppression in thenight, resembling the pressure of weightupon the breasthiccough to sob with convulsion of thestomach.WEIRD WORDSfopdoodle a fool; an insignificant wretchgarlickeater a term used of anythingconsidered to be vileanatiferous producing duckscamelopard (giraffe) an Abyssiniananimal, taller than an elephant but not sothickdefluxion defluxion.WORDS WHICH DIDN’T EXIST THENfunny, alcoholic, normal, diplomacy,nostalgia, pessimism.MISTAKES IN JOHNSON’S DICTIONARYleeward and windward he defines both ofthem as the same thing, towards the windgarret a room on the highest floor of ahousecockloft the room over the garret.self-made man”,’says Hitchings.Johnsonresearched his workby reading a lot andas he went he’d notedown words.‘If you are readingincredibly widely —and he read around2,000 books while hewas working on thedictionary, lookingfor examples ofusage — you aregoing to comeacross some weirdstuff.‘Some everydaywords didn’t make itin because he basedDr Johnson’sDictionary:TheExtraordinaryStory Of TheBook ThatDefined TheWorld, byHenryHitchings, ispublished byJohn Murray,priced £14.99. Available fromMonday April 11.the whole thing on reading, rather thangoing out into the streets to hear whatpeople say.‘These days when you have hugecommittees and people can send in ideasfor words that ought to be in the dictionary,nothing is going to get through the net.’Johnson’s harvest of 42,773 words, forwhich he was paid £1,575 (around £100,000today), doesn’t sound like much when youconsider that English actually comprisedbetween 250,000 and 300,000 words at thattime.Definitions were peppered with his ownfeelings and prejudices, Hitchings observes.‘For example, Johnson wasn’t a big fan ofpeople from Scotland, for reasons which areunclear, but his definition of “oats” is “agrain which in England is generally given tohorses, but in Scotland supports thepeople”.‘But the good things about it, the qualityof a lot of thedefinitions and thesystematic way thatJohnson went aboutit was a big influenceon what happened.‘The things thatweren’t so goodabout his dictionarywere also influentialbecause they forcedpeople to think morecarefully about howdictionaries shouldbe made.’In the 19th centurythe Oxford EnglishDictionary attemptedto replace Johnson’s.There was a feelingthat Johnson’sdictionary had limitations and that a gooddictionary of English shouldn’t be made byone person, but by a team of people.‘The Oxford English Dictionary startedbeing made in 1860 but took 68 years to befinished. They wanted to do away with hisrather authoritative presence.’However, around 1,700 of Johnson’sdefinitions remain in the OED, saysHitchings, which proves he was on the righttrack.Some of the entries in Johnson’s werevague but others were complicated in theirdetail.‘He tried to be quite precise andsometimes used professional medicalterminology but the hazard was that itcould be quite obscure.‘This is the problem that persists indictionaries to this day. You can look a wordup and find yourself having to look anotherword up to understand the first word.’Exercise, Hydrotherapy andRehabilitation CentreatMountMurraySUPERB FACILITIESCORPORATE INCLUDE FITNESS ...Keep your Employees and YourCompany Fit!Special Corporate rates available forboth Health Club and Golf MembershipHealthy staff make a healthy businessso why not include membership in yourcompany employee packages.Call for further information01624 695307Superb facilities include...• Ladies only gym • 12m Swimming Pool• Hydrotherapy pool • Saunas• Range of classes • Steam room• Golf course* • Hairdressers*• Beauty salon*• Squash & tennis courts* • Free Weights• Cardiovascular• Plunge PoolEquipment• Resistance EquipmentAND MANY MORE*additional chargeMount MurrayHOTEL & COUNTRY CLUB• SANTON • ISLE OF MAN • IM4 2HTTel: 661111 • Fax 611116email: leisuremembership@mountmurray.comweb: www.mountmurray.com

26 Business updateIsle of Man Examiner, May 2005IT & IMinimarvelGiles Turnbulldiscovers theApple Mac miniis small butperfectly formedOver the years, AppleComputer hasearned a reputationas a creator of stylish but expensivecomputer hardware.Apple’s computers have nottraditionally been considered byordinary people looking for a homecomputer for family use; they haveremained popular machines forartists, designers and musicians,but rarely strayed from thoseniches.But times have changed, and sohave Apple’s computers. Therecently launched Mac mini(www.apple.com/uk/macmini) isthe Apple computer so manypeople have been waiting decadesfor: a cheap one. At roughly £340,it’s one of the lowest-price personalcomputers of any kind. It’s also oneof the smallest — two inches high,and slightly wider and longer than aCD case. It’s tiny.browsingaround■ Explore Scotland’shistorywww.historic-scotland.gov.uk■ Mrs Fix It can probablyfix itmrsfixit.com■ Inflict terrible disasterson websiteswww.netdisaster.com■ What happens whenpop stars get their ownradio stations?www.davidbyrne.com/radio/■ Giles Turnbull has awebsite atgilest.orgYet packed inside the sleek metalcase is a perfectly reasonablecomputer capable of all the basics.Web browsing, e-mail, digitalphotos, word processing — all thenormal day-to-day stuff thatmembers of the family might wantto do. The Mac mini is perfectlycapable of handling these tasks.But despite packing a lot into atiny package, the Mac mini hasbeen criticised for what it doesn’tinclude — most obviously, akeyboard, mouse and monitor.Yes, when you buy the Mac mini,all you’re buying is the computeritself. Just the box that does thetricks. The idea is that you supplyyour own peripherals. You could, ofcourse, buy Apple’s own extras, andeasily spend far more on them thatyou would spend on the Mac mini.But you could just as easily plugin the keyboard, mouse andmonitor you already use with yourWindows computer. Or a secondhandset picked up from eBay or afriend.The Mac mini is not a‘professional’ computer, in that thespecifications are little better thanthe company’s entry-level laptopcomputer. But it is a perfectlydecent home computer.It copes very well with severalopen applications, connects to abroadband internet service withease (it found, and configured itselfto use, my wireless network withjust one click on the mouse) andmakes a good stab at managingmultimedia applications too.If you’re looking for a machine forserious photo editing, video editing,or creating music, look further upthe Apple product chain.But if all you need is the basics,for yourself or members of yourfamily, the Mac mini is worthconsidering. Although you have toprovide the hardware peripherals,the price does include a superbcollection of applications. On aWindows computer, you’d have tobuy these separately.If you’ve become fed up withWindows getting bogged down byviruses and other nasties, there’snever been a better time toconsider switching to a Mac.DO THESHUFFLEJust as the Mac mini offersjust enough of what you needin a personal computer, soanother new Apple product,the iPod shuffle(www.apple.com/uk/ipodshuffle)offers just enough of what youneed in an MP3 player.Previous iPods used a harddrive and stored thousands ofsongs. The iPod shuffle usescheap flash memory (with nomoving parts) and storeseither 120 or 240 songs,depending on which one youbuy.It’s as basic as things get.There’s no screen and fewcontrols, but the beauty of theiPod shuffle is that it takesaway your need to think. Justplug it into your computer(Mac or Windows) and it willfill itself up with a randomselection of songs from yourcollection.Walking around with its (verygood quality) headphones inyour ears means constantsurprises; you never knowwhat it will play next. Andthat's more fun than you mightthink.BETTERIESComputer companies areleading the way in the field ofbattery research. Toshiba, wellknown for its laptops, says ithas created a tiny batterycapable of recharging itself injust 60 seconds. It’s hopedthat the technology will beappearing commercially inlaptops and mobile phones by2006.

Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005 Businessupdate27ISSUEStress hasa big impacton businessMs Weadock adds: ‘I agree. It has to bepromoted from the top. If you are working70 hours a week to set up a business, youare probably only going to be productive for30-plus hours of good work anyway. So whyare you doing this?’Risk of fast-trackpromotionsIn an Island with full employment, thereis a tendency to fast-track individuals intomore senior jobs with extra responsibilitytoo quickly, says Mr Nixon. ‘Unless there istraining and a support mechanism, they aregoing to fail and get stressed. They are notgoing to admit they have failed and they aregoing to work long hours. But you are notgoing to get the productivity required.’The Hilton Hotel organises a trainingcourse aimed at dealing with stress. MsWeadock explains: ‘Our first stage forsomebody who has been promoted to asupervisory level or lower managementlevel is a course for them called “lookingafter yourself”. The first thing we try and dois to identify signs of stress and ways ofcontrolling the stress. Identify it and thentalk about ways it can be avoided.’It comes down to identifying the rightpeople for the right jobs, believes MsHunter. ‘If you get that right, the chancesare you are not going to get theseindividuals stressed out.’A duty of careEmployers have a ‘duty ofcare’ to protect the health,safety and welfare of allemployees while at work.The HSE has identified sixkey areas (or ‘risk factors’)that can be causes of work-relatedstress.These are:❏ the demands of your job (e.g.Issues such as workload, workpatterns, and the work environment)❏ your control over your work (e.g.How much say the person has in theway they do their work)❏ the support you receive frommanagers and colleagues (e.g. Howencouragement, sponsorship andresources are provided by theorganisation, line management andcolleagues)❏ your relationships at work (e.g. Ispositive working promoted to avoidconflict and to deal withunacceptable behaviour?)❏ your role in the organisation (e.g.Do people understand their rolewithin the organisation and whetherthe organisation ensures that theperson does not have conflictingroles?)❏ change and how it’s managed(e.g. How organisational change[large or small] is managed andcommunicated in the organisation)what do youthink?What do you think? How do you cope with stress at work?E-mail your views to john.sherrocks@newsiom.co.imK C M YWake-up callBeing surrounded by people...‘STEVE’ is a manager with a local firm. This is his account of thesessions with Dr Nightingale — and the wake-up call she gave himI HAD been aware for some time that work was takingover my life and causing me problems.Although I consider myself well-organised and ableto work under pressure, sometimes the sheer volumeof work and the fact there was never any let-up, oranyone less busy to delegate to, left me feelingcompletely unable to cope.This manifested itself physically in minor ailments Ishouldn’t be suffering at my age plus, on occasions,when I was being pulled from pillar to post, chestpains and tightness. On occasions I became aware Iwasn’t even breathing properly. One day I did justwalk out and go home, I felt so unable to cope.I was snappy with colleagues and customers alike.‘How can she take a lunch break when I don’t havetime?’ I would feel. Away from work I lost interest inmy social life and the sport I used to play — and evenin my wife. I was always so tired or down, all I couldthink of was getting home, doing as little as possibleand getting to bed.I used to be a party animal but I dreaded socialengagements as I was always too lethargic and lackedconfidence, my work-life balance had got so out ofkilter. But I would often lie awake worrying aboutwork, and what awaited me the next day, anyway. I doa 9-5 job, but if I wasn’t in for 8am I felt late andunder pressure.Even though I was often working 10 and 11-hourdays with no break and taking work home with me,my manager just shrugged when I raised it with herand said: ‘What am I supposed to do?’I felt if I pushed the issue I could have risked losingout at future promotions, or even demotion ordismissal. Nevertheless, my visit to Dr Nightingalecame as a real wake-up call.I knew I was in a bad way but I didn’t realise justhow bad till she revealed my test results were extremeand asked with genuine surprise: ‘How are youkeeping going?’She warned me starkly that major problems layahead unless I made changes to my life quickly.The results of the tests revealed my anxiety level wasa very high 63 (the average is 29-48) and that I wasclinically depressed, with a score of 65 (51 or above isconsidered very high and average 27-42).I was also very stressed and showed type-Abehaviour — hurry sickness brought on by unrealistictargets and deadlines, which can, and in my case did,lead to inadequacy and relationship problems.Dr Nightingale recommended dramatic lifestylechanges and urged me not to put them off.I have read a superb book she recommended, Don’tSweat the Small Stuff, by American author RichardCarlson, whose basic message is that life isn’t anemergency and that it isn’t something you’ll livetomorrow, next week or next year but something youare living here and now.He advocates changing your attitude to stressors,not building mental snowballs and, perhaps mostimportantly of all, realising that your ‘in box’ is nevergoing to be empty but that you have to make time forother things. Although I think I’ll have to keep rereadingit, it’s certainly helping me. I have also signedup for relaxation classes and, following Carlson’sadvice, made an ‘appointment’ with myself for acouple of hours’ exercise a week — something Icontinually told myself I didn’t have time for.At work I am simply learning to say no more often.No one is going to relieve me of the strain. I have toact myself, even if that does mean saying to someone,‘I did not have time to do that, sorry.’ It’s not in mynature, so it’s hard, but something has to give.One thing I learned from my consultation was thatstress isn’t what you, as a manger or employer, think itis. If an employee says he is feeling the effects ofstress, he is, whether he is running a multi-national orsweeping a town’s streets. Bosses shouldn’t judgeothers by their own ability or output.Dr Nightingale told me employers are being sued inthe Island for ignoring stress among workers. Thestress audit is good news. I do not think many bosses,especially those of the ‘old school’, understand stressor their responsibilities in this area nearly wellenough and encourage staff to soldier on to maintainproductivity, showing a lack of interest in, or evenhumouring, those who show signs.But at what cost — to firms in terms of time off illand possible legal actions and to individuals in termsof their long-term mental and physical well-being,their marriages etc?...can still feel lonelyIf you or someone you know needs to talk inconfidence, contact Samaritans.We’re here to listen 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.SAMARITANS08457 90 90 90 or 01624 66 33 99

Back page 28businessupdate Isle of Man Examiner, May 2005MEDIALife through a lensIn today’s climate of media intrusion, NICK YATES discoversthat celebrities face a battle to safeguard their privacyAs a journalist I found thefront page of the Sun lastMonday head-shakinglydisturbing. The entire page contained only67 words of actual story and theintroduction to that story, under a headlinePOSH PYJAMA DRAMA, read: ‘SuspiciousVictoria Beckham rushed out in herPYJAMAS to keep an eye on hubby Davidwhen he went out at midnight.’Immediately above that was a zoom lensphotograph of Prince Harry in the back of ajeep with his girlfriend, with a promise ofexclusive pictures on pages four and five.It may be naïve, but I would have hopedthat a national newspaper with a dailycirculation of three million-plus might takesome responsibility and put somethingnewsworthy on its front page of a Mondaymorning. There is always an argument thata newspaper prints what its readers want tosee, but I can’t help thinking it is slightlyinsulting to the British public to assume theonly issues they care about are the startlingrevelations that Victoria Beckham wearspyjamas in bed and Prince Harry has agirlfriend. Perhaps they think that peopleare far too depressed or hung-over onMonday mornings to read and would ratherjust look at pictures.In English law the right to privacy hasbeen recognised since October 2000 whenarticle eight of the European Convention onHuman Rights (the right to privacy) cameinto force as part of the Human Rights Act1998.Privacy, by definition, is meant to protectany individual against the intrusion intohis/her personal life or affairs or those oftheir family, by direct physical means or bypublication of information. This includesthe rights of the famous and the use oflong-lens cameras.The media, especially the tabloidnewspapers, often tread a fine line in thearea of privacy and the front page of lastMonday’s Sun is a good example. They areable to do this because it is very difficult toWHEREFORE ART THOU ROMEO: The Beckhams face a battle toprotect their children from the long lensesenforce the law in the courts. One of thereasons for this is article 10 of the EuropeanConvention that ensures freedom ofexpression is taken into account in anylegal argument. Freedom of expression iscritical to the media, and democracy ingeneral, but there is a point when thedefinitions of ‘public interest’ and ‘ofinterest to the public’ become confused.Today’s media is littered with examples ofstories that are of interest to the publicrather than in the public interest. Theadvent of fly-on-the-wall documentariesand shows such as Big Brother, Hell’sKitchen and I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out OfHere have fuelled this phenomenon. Ofcourse they are perfectly legal because thecontestants have signed away any right toprivacy when they set foot on the set. Thereal problem comes when the media beginto intrude into the private lives of publicfigures. Yes — they are in the public eye, butdoes this mean that the most intimatedetails of their lives should be dissected andpresented, with close-up pictures, fordiscussion across the British breakfasttable?Media organisations should alwayscomply with the Press ComplaintsCommission’s code of conduct, although itis more of an ethical rather than legalframework. Clause three of the code says‘everyone is entitled to respect for his or herprivate and family life, home, health andcorrespondence. A publication will beexpected to justify intrusions into anyindividual’s private life without consent.’It adds that the use of long-lensphotography to take pictures of people inprivate places without their consent isunacceptable.The Sun would argue that Prince Harry’sjeep safari is fair game because he is inpublic, similarly any published picture ofthe Beckhams is of them in public. Theproblem is that the pictures oftenaccompany intensely private details of rowsand rumours of marriage break-up withinthe actual story.Recently David Beckham reportedly saidhe would have to leave Spain if journalistspersisted in following his children toschool. Jamie Oliver, the TV chef, has alsosuffered intrusion into his privacy at thehands of the media. He was the victim of atabloid story claiming he had slept with awaitress in Amsterdam. In an interview withthe Daily Mail he said he had no problemwith the media spotlight but he did have aproblem with lies that damaged his familyand to top it all he had to fork out £25,000to get an injunction to stop it going topress. The wider argument of privacy versuspublic interest would question whether thestory should ever have been considered inthe first place regardless of whether it wastrue or not.Famous people in the public eye have toaccept that the privileged lifestyle comeswith some drawbacks but that shouldn’textend to their family. Being a role modelfor the young and impressionable is oftenan argument used by the media when itpublishes articles that infringe on privacy,but their real motives are often thetitillation of the masses rather than a realdesire to protect the innocent.There is a moral crisis among the UKtabloid press at present, as each publicationsinks lower and lower in an attempt to winthe circulation battle. While they aresquabbling with each other there is a realdanger that they are beginning to dictatewhat the public find interesting rather thanvice versa. Given the influence the mediahave in this country (The Sun claims toreach 10 million readers on a daily basis)this is a dangerous development. It is why Ifind front pages like last Monday’s sodistressing, and why the tabloid editorsshould start taking some responsibility forwhat they feed to the public rather thanconcentrating solely on winning theratings/circulation war to the detriment ofthe quality of the press and the professionof journalism in general.DIRECTISLEofMANPARISFROM£159RETURNISLE OF MAN - PARIS CDGDAYS FLT NO DEP ARR AIRCRAFT1---5-- 3W5005 1245 1520 RJ70PARIS CDG - ISLE OF MANDAYS FLT NO DEP ARR AIRCRAFT1---5-- 3W5006 1630 1710 RJ70OPERATES27.05 - 30.09MAKE YOUR RESERVATION NOW!FLIGHT